January’s New TV Shows, From Poker Face to The Last of Us

It’s time to wave goodbye to 2022 and hello to the clean slate of content that is 2023. Knives Out writer-director Rian Johnson keeps on sleuthing with the new Peacock mystery-of-the-week series Poker Face, led by Russian Doll and Orange Is the New Black star Natasha Lyonne. AMC continues its adaptations of author Anne Rice’s work with Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches, led by The White Lotus actress Alexandra Daddario, who realizes she has some witchy ancestors. One of HBO’s most anticipated titles is finally here. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey helm The Last of Us, Craig Mazin’s new series for the premium content giant and adaptation of the popular apocalyptic video game of the same name. Plus, the series premieres of the Night Court revival and That ‘90s Show, and new seasons of Ginny & Georgia, Miracle Workers, and Mayor of Kingstown.

Grab your popcorn and put fresh batteries in your remote! Let’s take a closer look at what new shows will be hitting the small screens in January.

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Kaleidoscope

Release Date: January 1 on Netflix

Don’t tell them they won’t be able to crack the code. It’ll just make them want to do it even more. Better Call Saul and The Mandalorian actor Giancarlo Esposito gets feisty in the new Netflix heist drama Kaleidoscope. He and his crew can break open vaults and solve the most complicated puzzles in their sleep, but what about one worth $7 billion? The series, which was created by Eric Garcia, also stars Jai Courtney, Rosaline Elbay, Peter Mark Kendall, Bubba Weiler, and Niousha Noor.

Will Trent

Release Date: January 3 on ABC

Who’s this fellow, and why is he holding a dog? Based on Karin Slaughter’s best-selling crime novel series, the new ABC investigative series Will Trent follows—you guessed it—Will Trent (Ramón Rodríguez), a Special Agent in the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI). After overcoming a tough upbringing in Atlanta’s foster care system and wrestling with being abandoned by his parents at birth, he is determined to put his special skills and compassion to good use. The pilot is co-written by Liz Heldens and Daniel Thomsen, who have worked on series such as Friday Night Lights, Westworld, and The Dropout.

Copenhagen Cowboy

Release Date: January 5 on Netflix

Did somebody say Danish noir thriller? From Nicolas Winding Refn (NWR), the mind behind Drive, Pusher, and The Neon Deon, comes Copenhagen Cowboy. This stylish, Danish-language series follows Miu (Angela Bundalovic), a savvy, closed off young heroine making her way through the dark underbelly of Copenhagen’s crime world. The series is a family affair, with NWR’s wife Liv Corfixen serving as an executive producer and their two daughters—Lola and Lizzielou Corfixen—acting in the project.

The Rig

Release Date: January 6 on Prime Video

Oil. Fog. Madness. Created by David Macpherson, the Scotland-set drama thriller The Rig follows a group of rig workers on a remote island who struggle to return home once a massive and mysterious fog consumes everything around them. Not only does the fog obstruct their vision and work, but it seems to bring with it a supernatural force. The series stars Emily Hampshire, Iain Glen, Calvin Demba, Molly Vevers, and Abraham Popoola.

Boys in Blue

Release Date: January 6 on Showtime

Showtime’s emotional four-part docuseries Boys in Blue tackles division, differences, and the love of the game. Emmy-winning filmmaker Peter Berg got down and dirty in North Minneapolis with the North Community High School football team the Polars in 2021. The series takes an unflinching and honest look at the relationship between the mostly Black team and their coaches and mentors (many of whom are police officers) following the devastating death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. Despite the strained and tense relationship the community has with the officers, Boys in Blue examines the earned trust, love, and respect between the players and their leaders.

Alert

Release Date: January 8 on Fox

Somebody is missing. Okay, a lot of people are missing. Executive produced by Jamie Foxx and The Blacklist producer John Eisendrath, the new police procedural drama Alert takes place in the high-intensity Missing Person’s Unit of the Philadelphia Police Department. Each episode follows officers and exes Jason Grant (Scott Caan) and Nikki Batista (Dania Ramirez) as they try to solve a new missing person’s case while they also try to solve their own case involving their missing son.

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches

Release Date: January 8 on AMC and AMC+

AMC smartly follows up the success of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire starring Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, and Eric Bogosian with the fantastical series Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches. Lead by The White Lotus Season 1 star Alexandra Daddario and based on Rice’s supernatural novel trilogy Lives of the Mayfair Witches from the 1990s, the horror drama follows Rowan Fielding (Daddario), a neurosurgeon whose life is altered when she finds out that she is the heir to a family of witches. Will her life suddenly become inundated with brooms? Will she own a cauldron? Time will tell.

Chasing Waves

Release Date: January 11 on Disney+

It runs in the family. Salty seawater courses through the veins of Mahina Maeda, Yuma Takanuki, Sara Kohrogi, Kanoa Igarashi, and Connor O’Leary, four professional surfers from around the world who use surfing as a way to connect with their families and find their identity. Jump into the ocean with these experts as they dive deep into why they love the water and how surfing gets them through their most difficult times.

The Last of Us

Release Date: January 15 on HBO

The critically acclaimed video game is getting a prestigious television adaptation. Created by Emmy-winning Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the Naughty Dog developer and creator of the PlayStation franchise, comes the HBO series The Last of Us. Pedro Pascal stars in the dark, gritty, adventure drama as Joel, a hardened man living in a world that’s been ruined by a fungus outbreak that has destroyed civilization for the last 20 years. Joel is tasked with sneaking the brazen 14-year-old Ellie (Bella Ramsey) out of her intense quarantine zone, though it isn’t as easy as he thought it would be. Ellie, despite being infected, is strangely immune to the Cordyceps fungus that has torn through society. Could she hold all the answers?

Night Court

Release Date: January 17 on NBC

Joining the long list of classic shows getting the reboot-revival treatment is the hit 1980s sitcom Night Court. The legacy of the original series, which followed the (mostly) harmless dysfunction of Manhattan municipal court judge Harry Stone (Harry Anderson), lives on in the revival as it follows Harry’s daughter Abby (Melissa Rauch) who is taking after her father by giving the whole “nighttime judging” thing a shot. John Larroquette bridges the gap between the series as he reprises his role as the unpredictable and problematic prosecutor Dan Fielding, who somewhat inadvertently takes Abby under his wing. The series also stars Lacretta, India de Beaufort, and Kapil Talwalkar.

Stonehouse

Release Date: January 17 on BritBox

Forgery, fraud, and faking death. Matthew Mcfadyen, Succession star and Emmy winner for his performance as the delightfully detestable Tom Wambsgans, adds to his corrupt character collection with the BritBox original Stonehouse. The biographical dramedy tells the bizarre true story of John Stonehouse (Mcfadyen), former Postmaster General and big shot in Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s government who faked his own death (unsuccessfully) in 1974. He left behind a neatly folded pile of clothes on the beach of Florida and swam into the ocean and “disappeared,” though when he was discovered to still be alive, his fancy reputation quickly started to drown. The series also stars Keeley Hawes, Kevin McNally, and Dorothy Atkinson.

That ‘90s Show

Release Date: January 19 on Netflix

Another revival of sorts! Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp) and Red (Kurtwood Smith) have been enjoying the empty nester life, but those days are about to come to an abrupt end when they get a surprise visit from their grandchild Leia (Callie Haverda). In the That ‘70s Show spin-off That ‘90s Show, Leia is figuring herself out and decides to do so under the roof of father Eric’s (Topher Grace) childhood home. A whole new crop (and generation) of youngsters is ready to create chaos and memories, much to Red’s frustration. The series is set to have appearances from That ‘70s Show stars Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Laura Prepon, Topher Grace, and Wilmer Valderrama.

Accused

Release Date: January 22 on Fox

Innocent until proven guilty? Based on Jimmy McGovern’s BAFTA-winning crime anthology series of the same name, Accused follows a new case each episode from the perspective of the defendant to show exactly how someone could find themselves in the positions they are in now. An eclectic lineup of stars is featured in the series, including Michael Chiklis, Wendell Pierce, Margo Martindale, Rachel Bilson, Whitney Cummings, Abigail Breslin, and Jason Ritter.

Release Date: January 25 on Hulu

She’s mighty…but currently powerless. Jen (Máiréad Tyers) knows she is flawed. She knows a lot of things about herself. The most upsetting being the fact that she does not have superpowers when literally everyone else around her does. From the producers of Killing Eve comes Extraordinary, a comedy series about a young woman who is just trying to figure herself out. She overshares, is lazy, and frustrated. She needs to get to the bottom of why she doesn’t have powers. She is ready to start her power journey, Denise.

Wolf Pack

Release Date: January 26 on Paramount+

Buffy is back! Well, okay, Sarah Michelle Gellar is. After a astounding and just oh-so-delightful cameo in the Netflix hit Do Revenge with Maya Hawke and Camila Mendes, Gellar leads the pack of the Paramount+ series Wolf Pack. Based on the book by Edo van Belkom and developed for television by Teen Wolf and Criminal Minds creator Jeff Davis, the bloody drama follows Chief Arson Investigator Kristin Ramsey (Gellar) who tries to uncover the mystery behind a supernatural creature that was unleashed by a California wildfire. The deadly blaze seems to have transformed several teenagers into hairy beasts, and this investigator wants answers.

Poker Face

Release Date: January 26 on Peacock

Go ahead. Show me your poker face. Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery scribe Rian Johnson has more mysteries up his sleeve with Poker Face, a 10-episode “mystery of the week” series coming to Peacock. Natasha Lyonne is Charlie Cale, a woman who loves driving in her Plymouth Barracuda and has a knack for separating fact from fiction. Every road stop introduces her to a cluster of characters more complicated than the next, and she’s ready to see who’s lying. Among the eclectic cast of this dramedyis Adrien Brody, Chloë Sevigny, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ron Perlman, Nick Nolte, Ellen Barkin, and Tim Blake Nelson.